An ornate synagogue and ancient therapeutic
baths
The seventeen springs of the city of Hamat
Tiberias emanate from a source tens of
meters underground. In ancient times, the
springs were thought to have therapeutic and
restorative powers.

The largest waterfall in Israel and the
remains of an ancient city
The Banias spring begins at the foot of
Mount Hermon and its water rushes with great
force through a canyon-like channel, losing
190 meters in altitude over the course of
three and a half kilometers and forming the
Banias waterfall, one of the most beautiful
in Israel.

A vulture's nest and a breathtaking view
The Nimrod Fortress National Park grace the
slopes of Israel's highest mountain, Mount
Hermon, above the Banias spring. The
fortress overlooks the forested dales and
magnificent landscape of the area.

A Jewish city in a basalt landscape
overlooking the Sea of GalileeThe
city of Corazim was first mentioned during
the Second Temple period, when it was famous
for the high-quality wheat grown by its
residents. Corazim flourished during the
mishnaic and talmudic periods.

Remains of a large monastery commemorating
the miracle of
Kursi is the Arabic name for the ruin on the
eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee. During
the mishnaic and talmudic periods this was a
Jewish fishing village.

The ancient synagogue of the village of
Baram was constructed from large and
particularly beautiful hewn stones. The size
of the building is evidence that a highly
successful Jewish community lived in this
area during the fourth and fifth centuries.

Fun for the entire familyHurshat Tal National Park, in the northern part of the
Hula Valley, is the ideal place to spend a
day or two or even three. The landscaped
lawns and well-kept campground occupy 100 of
the approximately 190 acres of the national
park.

Tel Hazor sits opposite Kibbutz Ayelet
Hashahar on the Rosh Pina-Metulla road.
Hazor flourished during the middle Canaanite
period (ca. 1750 B.C.E.) and was the largest
fortified area in Eretz Israel during the
Israelite period (ninth century B.C.E.).

The most important burial place in the
Jewish world during the mishnaic and
talmudic periods
The ancient Jewish city of Beit She'arim is
well worth a visit. Built on a low hill in
the western part of the lower Galilee, Beit
She'arim flourished from the second through
the fourth centuries C.E.

A mishnaic-period city with an abundance of
mosaics
Ancient Zippori - also known by its Greek
name Sepphoris - is first mentioned in
Josephus Flavius' description of the reign
of Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus. A few
decades hence, Zippori had become the most
important city in the Galilee.

Yehiam Fortress is located in Kibbutz
Yehiam, in the western part of the Galilee.
When the kibbutz was settled in 1946, its
original residents lived in the fortress
ruins. The massive walls protected them when
they were under siege during the 1948 War of
Independence.

Mosaic of the zodiac and the story of the
sacrifice of Isaac
The Beit Alfa synagogue was constructed in
the fifth century C.E. It had a courtyard,
an entryway, a large rectangular room, a
second-floor balcony, and an additional
room. Two inscriptions were found on the
entryway floor.

Israel's Pompeii
The settlement of Beit She'an began in the
fifth century B.C.E. on a hilltop south of
Nahal Harod, in the heart of a fertile area
with plenty of water and at the crossroads
of major thoroughfares.

A Crusader fortress overlooking the Jordan
Valley and Gilad Mountains
This park is on the eastern part of the
Yissahar Ridge, on the edge of the steep
slope overlooking the Jordan Valley. The
builders of the fortress called it Belvoir
(beautiful view) because of its magnificent
view, which takes in the Gilad Mountains in
Trans-Jordan.

Springs, natural pools, and naturally warm
water
The Amal River traverses the length of the
Gan Hashlosha National Park. Since its water
is 28 degrees centigrade summer and winter,
visitors can swim in the river year-round.
The water collects in a natural pool (later
enlarged).

A spot of blue in the Jezre'el Valley
The Harod Spring bubbles in a cave on the
slopes of Mount Gilboa. The clear water
flows in a brook through the grassy Harod
Spring National Park en route to its final
destination: the Jezre'el Valley farms

Ahab's chariot city
In the early third millenium B.C.E., Megiddo
was already a city fortified by enormous
walls; a thousand years later Megiddo was
one of the centers of the Egyptian rule in
Canaan. The park offers a great deal to the
visitor. A model of the archeological
structure of the Tel..

A mountain that is green all year long
Although only one-third of the 21-acre Mount
Carmel National Park is a nature reserve,
the entire park is dedicated to nature
conservation, and specifically to
maintaining the Mediterranean habitats of
Israel.

A running river and a beautiful beach in one
The Alexander River is one of the few
riverbeds on the coastal plain which has
water all year long. It has a significant
population of soft-shelled turtles, reptiles
which can measure 1.20 meters and weigh 50
kilograms.

Old and new near the sea
The Ashkelon National Park sits within an
ancient rampart. A trail at the foot of the
Crusader wall of the city offers a lovely
view of the park, the sand dunes south of
Ashkelon, and present-day Ashkelon.

Port city par excellence
This area has had a long and checkered
history. It was initially settled during the
Hellenistic period (third century B.C.E.),
when the Phoenicians built a small port city
that they named Straton's Tower.

A place with everything: seashore, winter
pools, remains of a park forest, and sand
dunes
The 1500 acres of the Sharon National Park
comprise a relatively large and
uninterrupted slice of natural landscape,
containing all the elements typical of the
coastal plain. The park's green vista and
open area separate the built-up Hadera area…

A clean green vista in the Tel Aviv area
The park has two main attractions: Tel Afek
and its Ottoman-period fortress, Binar
Bashi, overlooking the springs of the Yarkon
River; and the area around the sources of
the Yarkon River, which boasts a wealth of
flora and fauna.

Guarding the road to JerusalemMount
Castel rises 790 meters above sea level. Some
historians identity this area with Efron,
mentioned in the Bible as a city bordering
on the lands belonging to the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin (Joshua 15:9).

A delightful place to visit in the Jerusalem
corridor
The beautifully landscaped Ein Hemed
National Park has rolling lawns, a bubbling
brook (in the winter only), a large
Crusader-period building, and picnic tables.
This is without a doubt one of the loveliest
spots in the Jerusalem area.

The ancient capital of the Israelite kingdom
The ruins of the Israelite city of Shomron
are about twelve kilometers north of Nablus
in the direction of Jenin, near the Arab
village of Sebastya. Shomron was the capital
of the Israelite kingdom during the eighth
and ninth centuries B.C.E., and continued to
be an important city…

Land of 1000 caves
The 1,250-acre Beit Govrin National Park
lies in the Judean plain, an area with
rolling hills rising some 400 meters above
sea level. Most of the ground here is chalky
and this soft but relatively
erosion-resistant stone is ideal for caves.

An oasis in the Negev Desert
The 875-acre Eshkol National Park has
rolling lawns, picnic areas, a swimming
pool, and a playground. It is the ideal spot
for spending a day in natural surroundings
or as the starting point for a visit to
Nahal Besor and its spectacular scenic
route.

Synagogue in an oasis
The remains of a Byzantine-period synagogue
are on view at the Ein Gedi Antiquities
National Park, adjacent to the Ein Gedi
Nature Reserve and the Arugot River. Five
inscriptions were discovered on the
synagogue floor…

Herod's well-fortified vacation palace
Herodion is without question one of the most
fascinating structures from the ancient
world. This fortress cum fortified castle
outside of Bethlehem was built by King Herod
between 22 and 15 B.C.E.

Herodian-period Massada
Sitting on an isolated cliff in the Judean
Desert, Massada's steep slopes and
precipices rise more than 400 meters above
the Dead Sea. The combination of cliffs and
escarpments in the desert area provided
Massada with the perfect natural defense
system

Home to the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The discovery of the ancient settlement of
Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls was
thrilling to Christians and Jews alike. The
Dead Sea Scrolls had sat undisturbed deep in
the caves of the Judean Desert for millennia

Remnants of an important city from the
Canaanite and Israelite periods
Tel Arad, on the outskirts of the modern
city of Arad, has both a lower and an upper
city. The lower city was inhabited only
during the early Canaanite period (3150-2200
B.C.E.). At the time, the 250-acre Canaanite
settlement with its 1,200-meter-long wall
was one of the largest cities in Eretz
Israel.

Bridging the centuries
Avdat sits on the ancient Spice Route
between Petra and Gaza. The city was named
for the admired Nabatean monarch Avdat,
apparently Avdat II (30-9 B.C.E.), who asked
to be buried here. Most of the spectacular
finds are from the acropolis, some 650
meters above sea level..

Oasis in a stunning canyon
The Ein Avdat Spring flows where the Zin
River leaves the Avdat Plain. Here the river
creates an unusual-looking, deep, narrow
canyon in the soft white chalk. The park has
a bubbling brook, a waterfall, and pools.

The Nabatean city where the Arabian horse
was bred
Mamshit is the Nabatean city of Memphis. In
the Nabatean period, Mamshit was important
because it sat on the route from the Idumean
Mountains to the Arava, which passed through
Ma'ale Akrabim and continued on to Beersheva
or to Hebron and Jerusalem.

A Nabatean and Christian city in the heart
of the desert
Shivta differs from the other Nabatean
cities in the Negev Desert in that it does
not sit on any commerce route. The
settlement was not fortified and therefore
can be considered a large agricultural
village.

A settlement from the time of Abraham
Tel Beersheva sits near the confluence of
the Beersheva and Hebron Rivers, where
settled land meets the desert. Archeologists
working at Tel Beersheva uncovered
two-thirds of a settlement from the early
Israelite period (tenth century B.C.E.).

The graves of David and Paula Ben-Gurion: a
landscaped garden in the desert
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his
wife, Paula, are buried on the edge of a
cliff overlooking the stunning landscape of
the Zin Valley and the Avdat Plain.

The Atlit
Detention Camp aims to teach the history of
the "illegal" immigration to Eretz Israel
during the British Mandate (the Ha’apala).
It enables the visitor to experience the
trauma of the immigrants who were subjected
to this form of imprisonment, so soon after
their release from Nazi extermination camps.

The
Ayalon Institute in the “Kibbutz Hill” –-
once a training and instruction site for
future kibbutz members (between 1932-1942),
with a highly secret underground munitions
factory, build for an armed struggle between
Jews and Arabs in Israel (and neighboring
Arab countries) - is now a fascinating open
air museum

Minkov’s
orchard, with its ‘bayara’ (or farmyard and
water well surrounded by a wall) was one of
the first orchards to be planted in Eretz
Israel in 1904. Located in Rehovot, it
played an important role in the development
of that town as Israel’s “citrus city”. The
site aims to offer a light-hearted and
humoristic, authentic illustration of the
early days of citrus growing in Israel,
based on accurate historical facts,
atmosphere and décor as documented.

Rivers, natural pools, and waterfalls
The 16,500-acre reserve is shaped like an
outstretched hand: the palm is Beit Zaida
Valley, and each finger represents a river
with rushing water and waterfalls. The
reserve is 400 meters above sea level at its
acme and gently slopes down its lowest
point.

At one time, the Hula Valley was an
important resting place for birds migrating
from Europe to Africa and back. Tens of
thousands of birds found refuge in the pond
and swamps. In addition, many species of
rare fish and plants lived here

Waterfalls and flour mills
The sources of Nahal Ayoun are in Lebanon,
about seven kilometers north of the town of
Metulla. Nahal Ayoun begins in the Ayoun
Valley in Lebanon and runs down into Israel,
flowing between stone walls.

Springs and a biblical-period city
Entering the Tel Dan Reserve is like
stepping into a wonderland: scores of
bubbling brooks feed into a running river
and tall treetops reach for the sky, their
leaves and branches keeping the ground shady
and refreshingly cool, even at noon on a hot
summer's day.

Conserving the flora and fauna of the swamp
The Ein Afek Nature Reserve, on the
outskirts of Kiryat Bialik, is the last
vestige of the Nahal Na'aman swamps, which
once extended all the way to the Acre
valley. The Ein Afek Spring is in the nature
reserve. A wooden path over the swamp passes
near typical riverbank flora.

The Griffon vulture, the fallow deer and the
roe deer return to the Carmel Mountain Range
By the turn of the twentieth century, many
of larger animals who had once made their
homes in Eretz Israel disappeared from the
landscape, largely because of large-scale
hunting. These animals had been an important
link in the ecosystem

200 thousand years of uninterrupted human
habitation
The southern bank of Nahal Me'arot lies on
the lower reaches of the western part of the
Carmel Mountain Range. Caves here contain
evidence of inhabitation by prehistoric
human beings.

Where the imagination runs riot
The Stalactite Cave Nature Reserve (also
called Soreq Cave) is dedicated to the
memory of Avshalom Shoham. The
82-meter-long, 60-meter-wide cave is on the
western slopes of the Judean Hills outside
the city of Beit Shemesh.

An oasis near the Dead Sea
The 6,250-acre Ein Gedi Nature Reserve sits
along the Syrian-African Rift, not far from
the Dead Sea. The reserve's four springs -
David, Arugot, Shulamit, and Ein Gedi - are
literally the wellspring for a wealth of
flora and fauna

Makhtesh Ramon: the story of the Negev
Desert
Makhtesh Ramon is the ideal venue for the
study of geology, even for those with little
or no prior knowledge of the subject. The
vigorous process of erosion, penetrated deep
into the ground, creating a "window" into
the layers of rock.

A haven for animals long lost to Israel
The mission of Yotvata Hai-Bar (Wildlife
Preserve) Nature Reserve is to establish
reproduction groups for populations of wild
animals that are mentioned in the Bible but
have disappeared from our landscape, as well
as for other endangered desert animals.

Underwater gardenEilat
Bay sits at the northern tip of a magnificent
coral reef which straddles the equator. The
clear, warm sea (at least 20 degrees
centigrade) provides the ideal environment
for the coral to build their homes.

Tel Hazor sits opposite Kibbutz Ayelet
Hashahar on the Rosh Pina-Metulla road.
The tell (mound composed of the remains
of successive settlements) has two
parts: the 30-acre acropolis and the
175-acre lower city. Hazor flourished
during the middle Canaanite period (ca.
1750 B.C.E.) and was the largest
fortified area in Eretz Israel during
the Israelite period (ninth century
B.C.E.)

Tel Megido
- National
parks - Lower GalileeMegiddo was one of the centers of the
Egyptian rule in Canaan. Megiddo was
strategically invaluable: It overlooked
the Eiron River in the heart of the
ancient Via Maris, which led from Egypt
and Damascus.Egyptian monarch Thutmosis III traveled
to Canaan in 1486 B.C.E. as a means of
entrenching Egyptian rule in the area

Acre is a historic walled port-city with
continuous settlement from the
Phoenician period. The present city is
characteristic of a fortified town
dating from the Ottoman 18th and 19th
centuries, with typical urban components
such as the citadel, mosques, khans and
baths. The remains of the Crusader town,
dating from 1104 to 1291, lie almost
intact, both above and below today's
street level, providing an exceptional
picture of the layout and structures of
the capital of the medieval Crusader
kingdom of Jerusalem.

Bridging the centuries.
Avdat sits on the ancient Spice Route
between Petra and Gaza. The city was
named for the admired Nabatean monarch
Avdat, apparently Avdat II (30-9 B.C.E.),
who asked to be buried here. King Avdat
renewed settlement in the city after
Gaza's fall to the Hasmonean king
Alexander Jannaeus (100 B.C.E.) and mass
migration from the city had effectively
taken Avdat off the commercial map.

The Nabatean city where the Arabian
horse was bred.
Mamshit is the Nabatean city of Memphis.
In the Nabatean period, Mamshit was
important because it sat on the route
from the Idumean Mountains to the Arava,
which passed through Ma'ale Akrabim and
continued on to Beersheva or to Hebron
and Jerusalem

A Nabatean and Christian city in the
heart of the desert.
Shivta differs from the other Nabatean
cities in the Negev Desert in that it
does not sit on any commerce route. The
settlement was not fortified and
therefore can be considered a large
agricultural village. Shivta was founded
during the early Roman period (first
century B.C.E.) and Roman-period ruins
are visible in the southern part of the
city.

Masada is a rugged natural fortress, of
majestic beauty, in the Judaean Desert
overlooking the Dead Sea. It is a symbol
of the ancient kingdom of Israel, its
violent destruction and the last stand
of Jewish patriots in the face of the
Roman army, in 73 A.D. It was built as a
palace complex, in the classic style of
the early Roman Empire, by Herod the
Great, King of Judaea, (reigned 37 – 4
B.C.). The camps, fortifications and
attack ramp that encircle the monument
constitute the most complete Roman siege
works surviving to the present day